The Triangle and Two: A Weekly Look at the Ups and Downs of Campus Hoops by Terrence Mayrose

“The ball is tipped…” The opening words to ” One Shining Moment” are so inspiring this time of year.

Tomorrow tips off the premier day for college basketball. Day 1 of the NCAA tournament. Long lunches, streaming videos on computer work screens, and even a “sick” day will all be common occurrences as The Big Dance gets underway.

Before diving into the college basketball bracket, here’s a few quick points that stand out about Selection Sunday :

Virginia Tech basketball fans were left out of the NCAA tournament despite a 23-8 (10-6) record

Any Hokie fan who jumps on the “raw deal” bandwagon led by Dickie V should know that Virginia Tech’s resume of wins include : #249 NC Greensboro, #254 Delaware (in ot) , #275 Brown, #304 Charleston Southern, #317 VMI, #318 MD Baltimore County, and #338 North Carolina Central . This collection of wins is a main part of the reason Virginia Tech is non conference strength of schedule ranks an abysmal 318th (all ratings by kenpom.com). After being left sitting on the side with a glass of punch while everyone else is dancing in the middle for the second straight season maybe Seth Greenberg will get the memo : PLAY TOUGH TEAMS…

Mississippi State listens to T and 2 but doesn’t turn out well

Opting to follow the sacred belief that fouling up three is always a good thing, Mississippi State basketball fans saw a rare occurrence. Kentucky was able to in fact hit the first,miss the second, get the rebound and score to force overtime. Readers were quick to email asking, ” Still believe you should foul up three ? ” To which I responded, ” Name me any other time you’ve seen that happen.” Aside from Sunday’s miracle….no one had ever seen fouling up three come back to haunt someone. So the T&2 still strongly supports the theory. Click here to read more.. »

Greivis Vasquez : A proven winner or desperate to be the center of attention ?

All I could think of while watching and suffering through the home stretch of that Duke-Maryland game was what exactly to make of Greivis Vaquez’s actions. My gut instinct was to characterize it as another “look at me” type of performance that is not much different from a little child screaming in the grocery store becuase of what it’s aimed for : attention. You saw the act.. the chest pounding, the pointing to the stands, raising his arms, and putting his hand to his ear saying “I can’t hear you”. I was utterly disgusted that he couldn’t just play, and win the game. He made it a show.﻿ My attention wasn’t focused on saluting his performance for beating my Dukies, it was not focused on how dumb he looked. Let’s be serious. He’s easily one of the top 10, possibly top 5 players in the country. Does he really need to hear the fans chanting to be the best player on the court ? Doubtful.